Investigating Ionospheric Perturbations Following the 2020 Beirut Explosion Event

We assess the detection of the August 4, 2020 chemical explosion in Beirut, Lebanon (33 degrees N, 35 degrees E). We use ionospheric total electron content (TEC) observations from a regional network of ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to study the ionospheric variability and wave perturbations generated by the Beirut explosion. Our analysis reveals that the induced wave structures arrived in the ionosphere 10 +/- 2 min after the explosion, which is a strong indication of acoustic gravity wave activity. These wave structures are characterized with Delta TEC of 0.06 TECU moving at similar to 750 m/s in south-east direction away from the explosion epicenter. The continuous wavelet analysis we applied shows a dominant wave periodicity of 1.5-2.5 min (6.78-11 mHz) in the ionosphere. Furthermore, we use measurements from ERA-interim analysis to establish the ambient neutral atmospheric conditions before the Beirut explosion event. Finally, the observed ionospheric wave perturbations appear to be in good agreement with the expected arrival of acoustic gravity waves generated following the explosion.